Tuesday, May 18, 2004

If you're dying to see W out of office but can't quite bring yourself to wear a John Kerry Tee Shirt Northland Poster Collective has a fabulous collection of tee shirts, bumper-stickers and posters to help you say what's on your mind!

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Do you know someone who was?
Were you arrested?
Do you know someone who was???? Or someone who knows someone who....?

There has been a victory from a class action lawsuit and those involved need to take action now!!!! PLEASE READ the message below and use your networks to get this message out. AND join us in celebrating this victory!

Please help get information out to folks arrested in the afternoon of Dec 1 1999 at 1st & Broad during the WTO protests in Seattle.

As the attorneys explain below, the judge agreed to the settlement so now people must TURN IN THEIR PAPERWORK BY JUNE 22nd to be included in the class and receive the $$ they are due. It's no longer just a possibility, this is happening and the time frame is short so please help now.

Yes, NOW is the time to work those networks to get this information out to folks who might be out of the loop. This is no small task and the attorneys can only do so much:
We know folks.
We have websites on which we can post announcements that arrestees might see (hint hint)
We have the networks and, without them, many will never know that the city settled their case ...

LET'S USE THESE NETWORKS TO GET THE WORD OUT.
TELL FOLKS TO CONTACT the attorneys (info below) so they can send them forms to complete. NOW is the time to do it since they will only have until JUNE 22nd to return the forms.

Wouldn't it be great is we could get everyone arrested at 1st & Broad to participate!!!! What a great message that would send.

It would also be great if folks would cc me their information so I can reach them better next time, but my own request and isn't a part of the legal stuff directly ....it's up to them if they want to get my occasional emails about this stuff.
... AND anyone arrested during WTO but not at this location should also get their current info to me so we can reach them better if the other case ever gets resolved.

And here's another cool (verrrrrrrry cool... -20, I think) video interview with Radio Finland at the EU Summit protests in Copenhagen in January of 2003. Scroll down to where it says: Folk-laulaja Anne Feeney kertoo itsestään, ajatuksistaan ja Pennsylvenian feministien tilanteesta ... and select 56 or 256 baud playback .... so, I guess I'm a folk-laulaja in Finland! I don't know why that gorgeous blonde with the dreadlocks below me doesn't look cold...

Can you guess that I just got a cable modem? It's amazing how many cool things there are out there that I couldn't see with my slow dial-up. Here's a fabulous
Video of our show on WUWF Radio Live! last March in Pensacola. Just scroll down the list of shows to March 4th and pick the broadband video option. You can also catch a fine performance by Jeff White who did the show with us.

Monday, May 10, 2004

Mother's Day 2004

Here I go again with probably misplaced optimism, but I've got to believe that as this torture scandal unfolds -- that as we learn that tactics like this are an all-too-commonplace and inevitable part of war -- that millions more will be added to the roster of full-time anti-war activists. It is difficult to think too much about what is going on in Iraq. It is easy to take comfort in the glorious patriotic images that Fox News displays for our general anesthesia. The disturbing truths about war are part of the horrible collective guilt carried about (usually in silence) by veterans of war. We know that the young people who find themselves in uniform in Iraq are our friends and neighbors. We don't want to believe that there is a system of indoctrination and discipline that could cause a dear friend and neighbor to drag a naked prisoner around on a leash. Yet there it is, in front of us. "War is hell" doesn't begin to summon up the destruction of the soul that wounds all participants in war. War is never the answer, and maybe the horrors of this scandal will convince skeptics. In the aftermath of war, we learn time and again of the deceit and treachery that led us into it... the so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction and the faked Gulf of Tonkin resolution take their place in history beside "Remember the Maine!" and "a war to end all wars," as the hateful ruses that lead a generation to slaughter.

In 1872, Julia Ward Howe's revulsion at war one led her to call upon all mothers:
"Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of fears! Say firmly: We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the devasted earth a voice goes up with our own. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!" The sword of murder is not the balance of justice! Blood does not wipe out dishonor nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as the means whereby the great human family can live in peace."

-- This is the true and original meaning of Mother's Day, as articulated by the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Happy Mother's Day.

If you've got a high speed connection here is a cool video of me and Chris at Kerrville last year performing "Carnivals", shot by our friend Papillon and also Crackerjack Cure

and...
Planned Parenthood has the video of my performance at the April 25th March for Women's Lives with my daughter, Amy Berlin, as well as Llewellyn Gannon of Portland, OR, Peter and Bethany Yarrow. Once the video loads you can advance throught the first fifteen minutes or so and go right to the music... (although the clip also includes Carol King's performance and some inspiring speeches...)

I hardly know where to start describing the joys of this festival. The location was convenient (just north of Baltimore, just south of Philadelphia), the lineup was unbelievable, the setting idyllic, the food delightful, the volunteers plentiful and cheerful, (and world-class massages for staff & performers... oh YES! - thanks Randy!) the stages well-designed and well-situated -- What a fabulous kickoff to the festival season--it's definitely posturing to become a leading festival in North America.

As you might guess, it can still get pretty chilly at night in Maryland this time of year, but the charming Ramblewood campground is set up really well for any kind of weather. We found ourselves mult-layered at night as we gathered in the cozy barn to hear the Nields, Full Frontal Folk, Sloan Wainwright, Tanglefoot (!), Four Shillings Short, Aztec Two Step, Common Bond -- I could go on and on, but you can check out the website! But the outdoor daytime stages were the perfect place to take it all in with absolutely glorious weather. The daytime stages shimmered with my pals Amy Carol Webb, Caroline Aiken, Jan Luby, Rachel Bissex, Wishing Chair, Still on the Hill, SONiA, Mustard's Retreat, We're About Nine, Les Barker, Carla Ulbrich -- and then to connect with and be totally knocked out by Danny Bakan - canadian banjo player extraordinaire... and the Malvinas, wow! wow! wow! The festival closes with a Phil Ochs-a-thon, which is certainly one of my favorite parts.

I think you should start figuring out right now how to be there in 2005. It's the perfect way to spend Mother's Day weekend ... lots of great kids activities too!

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Anne Feeney's Fellow Travelers' Advisory

I'm a traveling folksinger/agitator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For almost 40 years I've been performing and occasionally writing songs for people in struggle. Each month I report here on where I've been and where I'm going. Always try to check with a venue before heading off for one of my concerts - details also continuously update at http://annefeeney.com/calendar.html Sign up now to get my hard-to-find news for activists in the labor, peace, feminist, social justice and environmental movements.

In August 2010 I was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. I have a 20% chance of surviving this. In the meantime, I'm sidelined at home and unable to work. I've got some health insurance, so many of my medical expenses are covered. Still, if you're in a position to send some $$ my way, I could sure use it. It's scary being out of work.